Tragedy Calls My Name
by phoenixtears07
Summary: A tragic voice sets off a chain of events that pulls Dark and Krad out of the Kokuyoku. Thrown into new hosts and a war between demons and exorcists, they have no choice but to fight for a cause they don't believe in. Dark/Krad and Yullen ON HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Tragedy Calls My Name

Author: phoenixtears07

Pairings: Dark/Krad, Yullen

Genre: Romance, Angst, Drama, Humor

Warnings: shounen ai aka guyxguy pairing (you have been warned), some swearing, death, Krad with mood swings

Summary: After Dark sealed the both of them in the Kokuyoku, things were peaceful for a while until Krad hears a voice that does not belong in the Kokuyoku. It sets off a chain of events that throws them into new hosts and a war between demons and exorcists with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

Note: I need to stop writing new fics and finish my old ones, but I wanted to try a crossover for once. So, welcome to the first chapter of my new experiment!

~~X~~

**Chapter 1**

Time was an abstract concept.

Sundials, clocks, calendars, schedules. They were mere tools used to convert this idea into measurements that humans stubbornly clung to for their own peace of mind. After all, mortals only had a limited amount of time to make something of their lives before they disappeared into the distant void of death.

But, they were not human. They were the two halves of the Kokuyoku, the Hikari family's greatest artwork. They were, for lack of a better word, immortal. Forever youthful. And eternally bound to each other.

Light and dark. Black and white. Krad and Dark. Reflections of a reflection.

They were simply shadows of what they had once been and will never be again. Any possibility of becoming a single entity once more had long since been destroyed by the very thing that did not affect them.

Time.

Time and the hatred between their Tamers' families.

Had he cared to think about it, Krad would have called the centuries long antagonism an ironic tragedy, for his and Dark's first Tamers had loved each other. It had been a pathetic love conceived from Hikari's loneliness and Niwa's obsession with the former's art, but it had also been born out of respect and equality. And, twisted though their love had been, Krad treasured the memories of that time.

Because he had been innocent then. He loved his creator as a child would unconditionally love his parent. He loved Dark. And because "Father" loved that Niwa; Krad, too, loved the red haired thief. It had been a distorted parody of a family, but it was all he had known. He had been happy and if it could have lasted forever, then that would have been just fine with him.

But, the time he had with their little family ended far too soon.

Tragedy struck in the form of an illness, and the angelic being could only watch in panicked horror as his creator, his Father, wasted away. The once bright soul quickly tarnished and began to fade.

During this time, Krad learned new emotions. Fear. Terror. Sorrow. Hopelessness. Regret.

He shed his first tears as his other half gently rocked him in their private mental world.

Why did his chest ache so? Why did every breath feel as though glass shards were tearing him apart from the inside out? Why? Why? _Why_?

He had no answers and neither did Dark.

The first Hikari's final moments were spent with his Niwa. And as his creator took his last breaths, Krad desperately clung to Dark as his slender body was wracked with soul-shaking sobs.

Then, the light of his creator's soul disappeared, and Krad tasted the bitter touch of death for the first of many times.

"Dark!"

The echo of his agonized scream reverberated in their little world as he too faded away. The last thing he saw was Dark's tear-streaked face.

~~X~~

Awareness suddenly hit him as his senses were flooded with the emotions of another. Thinking it to be his creator's, Krad had excitedly called out, only to be disappointed and beyond confused when a totally different person answered.

The soul was different. The body was different. Where was he? Where was Father?

Memories rushed into his head, and tears threatened to fall. Father was gone. But, where was Dark?

Krad later discovered that his new Tamer was Father's nephew. When he asked about the Niwa, he reeled back as raw fury seared across his senses. And he could do nothing but tremble under the merciless onslaught of negative emotions.

The Hikari blamed the Niwa family for Father's death, and Dark had become nothing more than a traitor in the eyes of the artistic family.

Krad tried to explain the truth of what happened. But, his new Tamer lashed out in return, calling him a filthy liar.

It was a few years later when he met Dark again. His other half had a new Tamer as well, and the young thief had an eye on one of the Hikari artworks. But instead of the happy reunion he had been hoping for, Krad screamed when his host buried a dagger into the Niwa's back. And the thief collapsed like a puppet abandoned by its master.

The angel had never seen so much blood before. Everything was red, red, _red_. And he couldn't stop screaming. He tried to fight his way out. He _needed_ to get to Dark! His other half wasn't _moving_! But, his Tamer held him back by sheer force of will.

The Hikari snickered to himself, congratulated himself for protecting the precious artwork and avenging his poor, murdered uncle.

And still Krad screamed until his Tamer lost patience.

"Shut up! 'Dark! Dark!' Is that all you can say? If you're Uncle's greatest masterpiece, then I'd hate to see what he would consider a failure. The Niwa got what he deserved, and that other half of yours is just a traitor. They both needed to die. So, shut up!"

Krad stared at the bloody corpse through his Tamer's eyes. _//Why?//_

"Why what?"

His chest felt incredibly tight, but Krad did not know why. _//Why did they need to die?//_

"They're the enemy now. It's Niwa's fault that Uncle is dead. And Dark is on _that_ family's side."

_//Enemy? What is that?//_

"Enemies are the people you to hate. The ones you need to get rid of before they get rid of you."

_//Hate? Is that what I feel?//_

There was silence for several minutes. "What do you feel when you look at that?" The Hikari motioned to the Niwa's body.

_//My chest hurts, like my heart is being ripped out. Is that pain…hate?//_

"…Yes, Krad. You're feeling hatred towards both Niwa and Dark. They've abandoned you, Krad. But I haven't. We, the Hikari, are here for you. We _need_ you. We are the only ones who _love_ you. You are _our_ angel." The sweet words slipped off a poison tongue, coaxing the insecure magical being. "The Niwa are thieves. And thieves _always_ lie. They never cared for you or Uncle. They merely wanted our artwork. The Hikari family is nothing like that, though. We protect our own. We'll never abandon you if you don't abandon us, and we will never lie to you. If you have nothing, then we'll be your _everything_. How does that sound, Krad? "

The Hikari callously stepped over the corpse without a care in the world.

Krad tried to peer back but his Tamer spoke again, distracting him. "There's no need to look to the past for a love that I am freely offering you, is there?"

The angel hesitated and slowly, hesitantly gave his host his full attention. The "hatred" continued to tear at him, and Krad did not like it at all. _//How can I make the pain stop?//_

"You have to get rid of the source of that pain. You have to do what I just did, my angel. Kill the thieves."

_//And the hatred will stop?//_

"Yes, it will."

A plan had formed in the human's mind, and if things went according to his new plan, there would be a permanent Hunter lurking in the bloodline to guard the artworks and get rid of the pesky Niwa clan. The stage was set. The characters were already in place. And a bloody revolution would soon begin.

~~X~~

Over the course of time and generations, true hatred took root in Krad and poisoned his mind, threatening his precarious sanity. He took his second Tamer's words to heart, and his subsequent hosts became his everything.

He quickly lost any hesitance about harming his other half and a twisted cycle began.

Hate begot hate.

The balance between light and dark had been broken, and the light angel was the one forced to bear that cross. And so, Krad lost himself in his own madness, unable to tell truths from lies. Love from hate. Light from dark. It all blended together in a mix of pain and warped obsession with random periods when sanity took hold for a short time until it washed away again under the miasma of hatred.

The cycle continued for four hundred years until Dark broke the never-ending circle by sealing them back into their own artwork.

Unexpectedly, the ritual did not go as planned. They were supposed to merge and become a single entity again but something went wrong in the process. They were sealed, yes, but still separate beings. Remnants of a tragic history. Together yet apart in a void that welcomed and rejected them.

And so, they were left to contemplate their lot in life in the gray void that was the Kokuyoku.

~~X~~

And here Krad was, brooding over his naïveté during his early years. With the balance restored, his mind was clear and sharp again, unhindered by the haze of hurt and fury that ruled his actions for centuries. Now, he was able to look back and see how foolish he had been to hang on to every word his second Tamer had spoken. He had been pathetic then. Weak and stupid and so ignorant of the world he never asked to become a part of.

The wedge driven between him and his other half by the Hikari led to the reason he and Dark were stuck the way they were now. It was too late to fix the wrongs. So, they would be trapped here in this gray void, a perfect blend of black and white, until something, if anything, happened to free them.

The situation did not look promising.

Krad shifted slightly to glance behind him at his counterpart. They were sitting with their backs to each other, so all the blond could see was a pair of ink-black wings and a dash of purple hair.

Regret and loneliness clawed at his belly. He wanted to go back to the way things were before death intruded upon their strange family of four. Back when Hikari and Niwa had been equals, not bitter enemies. When he and Dark could curl up together in innocent bliss.

Krad wanted to apologize but the words wouldn't come out. So, he wrapped his wings around himself a little tighter and tried to muster up what courage he could scrape up.

"What happened?"

The blond nearly jumped out of his skin when his other half's voice suddenly broke the silence that ruled the void. "What?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

Krad frowned at the confusing questions. "What are you talking about?"

A sigh sounded and the rustling of clothes and feathers indicated that Dark had turned to face the angel. "What did I do to make you hate me? Why did we spend four hundred years fighting, Krad? I want to know why I had no choice but to seal us in this place."

The blond curled up a little tighter. Dark's voice was strained as though biting back scathing words. Suddenly, Krad didn't want to apologize anymore. He didn't know if he could handle Dark's rejection.

"Answer me, Krad."

The angel trembled slightly. What could he say? There was no reason for their centuries of hatred and generations of ruined lives.

Krad yelped when a weight slammed into him, throwing him onto his back. A dark blur straddled him and tanned hands pinned his gloved ones to the ground, or what served as a ground in the endless void.

Furious violet eyes bored into wide gold. "_Answer me_!"

Terrified, the angel struggled to get out of the tight grip, but Dark had always been the physically stronger one. "Get off!"

"Krad."

"Let go of me, Mousy!"

"Krad!"

A sharp crack froze the blond. Krad's face was turned to the side, displaying the red mark beginning to form from the rough slap.

Dark's eyes were wide, shocked at his own action. "I-I'm sorry, Krad. I didn't…"

"I don't know."

The thief blinked. "Huh?"

Krad kept his eyes closed, unable to look at his counterpart's face while he made his confession. "I cannot tell you a reason for the last four hundred years because there isn't one."

~~X~~

After explaining about how his Tamer manipulated him, Krad wrapped his wings around himself again. He was surprised that Dark had silently listened to the entire story, but the thief's stillness was also a cause for worry. Dark was not the type to sit quietly for long periods of time.

Where Krad could be perfectly happy curling up with a book in front of a fireplace on a snowy day, Dark would be overly excited and carelessly run outside to play in the snow without remembering to put on a heavy jacket. Krad was meant to be the calm one and Dark the ball of boundless energy.

So, to see his counterpart uncharacteristically somber, Krad felt extremely uneasy. Would Dark hit him again? Would Dark even want to speak another word to him ever again?

Countless questions revolving around Dark's rejection swirled in his mind. Would he be able to handle an eternity of estrangement from his other half?

A bitter laugh wanted to escape his throat. It had been so much easier to just let the haze of hatred control his every thought and action. At least it had been an excuse for his cruel words and unmatched bloodlust. It hadn't mattered then if Dark would reject him or not. All that had mattered was getting rid of the Niwa family and consequently his counterpart. Complicated thoughts and emotions didn't have a role and were easily ignored.

But now, with his sanity intact once more, he was reacquainted with the old pain. Now, he couldn't hide behind his naïveté and call it hatred. It just plain hurt, this broken love of theirs.

Black clad arms reached under his wings and wrapped around him. The angel tensed, expecting pain. But, the arms pulled him against a warm body in a familiar hug. It had been over four hundred years since he had been embraced at all, and the angel couldn't resist the warmth he had been longing for since that fateful night.

"I forgive you."

Golden eyes widened as Dark pulled him into a tighter hug. There was a burning sensation behind his eyes, and it took him several moments to realize why.

The cold, heartless monster that was the Hikari Hunter would have never allowed something as weak as tears, not even in the privacy of his own mind.

But he wasn't that monster anymore. He didn't want to be that again. And the dam broke.

He cried for Dark. For Father. For all those wasted years and ruined lives. For all the twisted truths and embellished lies. For the terrible hatred still seething in him, not at Dark or the Niwa clan but at himself.

And through it all, Dark rocked the shaking angel and shed his own tears.

~~X~~

Hours, days, years. Time didn't exist within the Kokuyoku, so the two angels stayed wrapped around each other. They reconciled and Dark shared countless stories of his many adventures while Krad listened with a small smile on his face.

He pouted when Dark teased him. He laughed when Dark ranted about the grayness of the void. He scowled when Dark playfully stole the cross tied to his hair. He snickered when Dark somehow tripped over his own feet in a rare display of clumsiness, a trait he claimed came from the last wing master.

But, only when Dark was asleep would Krad shed his tears. After the first time he broke down, or was it the second, he tried to keep his turbulent emotions under control. Unlike Dark, who had four hundred years to get accustomed to such human emotions, Krad had been rejecting his during that time. Now, all those emotions washed over him at one time, and he had no idea how to deal with it.

He had enough control over himself to keep his more volatile emotions at bay, but it was difficult and exceedingly stressful. And, Krad had a feeling that Dark was starting to catch on to him. Lately, his smiles were a bit too wide and a little too strained to be real. Dark's suspicious glances hadn't gone unnoticed, but Krad continued to paste on a smile anyway.

The light angel's fingers restlessly tangled into his long hair, making knots and smoothing them out over and over again. Frustration gleamed in moist golden eyes. Hadn't he already shed enough tears by now? Surely there was a limit to the amount of saline liquid that could leak from the eyes. If Dark saw him now, the dark angel would probably be rolling on the ground in hysterical laughter.

Krad could have sworn that he heard about something like this before. Likely something from one of his former Tamers' knowledge and memories. But, what was it? Something about hormones and chemical imbalances and other complicated processes that he hadn't really cared about but looked through anyways out of sheer boredom. Oh, it was something about having more female hormones every so often. Something along the lines of PTS or PSM. But…that was for females…and he was _definitely_ _male_.

Discarding the useless thoughts, he continued to sulk about his inability to control his tears. Did Dark ever cry this much while getting used to these emotions?

"Nope."

"Hmm…" Krad sighed. Maybe there was something wrong with him.

Though, there was definitely something wrong with the past minute. Like hearing a voice that wasn't his and sounded a little too much like his counterpart's, who was supposed to be asleep.

"What are you doing, Krad? Why are you crying?"

So much for keeping this a secret. Krad prepared himself for the imminent onslaught of laughter.

"Krad? What's wrong?"

The angel twisted a strand of hair around a finger. "Nothing's wrong."

"Right. Because you always cry when there's nothing wrong." The sarcasm made the blond twitch. "Besides, you only play with your hair when something's bothering you."

Krad scowled at his traitorous hair. Not that he would ever cut it though. He liked his hair just the way it was. "It's just an old habit."

"Uh-huh." Dark wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist and pulled the smaller angel to sit between his legs. "Tell me, Kraddy."

The blond frowned at the endless gray before him like it held all the answers to life's mysteries, if only to avoid looking at the male behind him. "Don't call me that."

"Aww, are you being shy? Don't worry…I'll let you make up a nickname for _me_, Kraddy."

The light angel's frown deepened. "No."

"Such a spoil sport."

Krad was about to respond when the words froze on the tip of his tongue. It took nearly a minute for him to strangle out a full sentence. "W-What are you _doing_?"

"Hmm…" Dark traced the line of Krad's jaw with his lips then gently nipped. "Is it good?"

Krad kept his mouth shut in fear of being reduced to a stuttering mess when Dark sucked on an earlobe. The dark angel's hand slipped under his shirt to trace little designs on the sensitive skin. A moan escaped the blond, much to his horror and Dark's amusement.

"What's wrong, Krad? I used to kiss you all the time."

True, back when life had just been breathed into them, he and Dark were affectionate towards each other. They would slip into their private world, just the two of them, and satisfy their craving for physical contact. Watching their Tamers', they picked up little things like kissing and hugging. But that was then, when they had been innocent. All those years ago, their kisses were nothing more than another form of contact, of connection.

Now, Dark's touches and kisses were no longer innocent displays of affection. Age and experience and attraction lent an intimacy to the action that hadn't been there before. It gave those touches substance, and every kiss a meaning.

Torn between mentally cursing the purple haired thief and pressing closer to the wandering hand, Krad bit back another moan when Dark sucked at a particularly sensitive place on his neck, most likely aiming to leave a visible mark to gloat about later.

Krad couldn't decide which one he liked better. The simple kisses from back then or the heated ones now.

Dark pulled back to see the flushed cheeks and dazed eyes of his angel. "You stopped crying."

Golden eyes blinked once, then twice. "Was I supposed to continue crying?"

"No!" Dark reached up to trace a finger along a flawless cheek. "I just don't like seeing you cry."

The blond looked away. "Moron. That's why I always wait until you're asleep."

A tanned hand cupped the pale chin to turn the blonde's face back to him. Dark leaned forward and gently pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss, a remnant of a fondly treasured past."I don't want you to hide your tears from me either. I won't laugh or anything."

Krad snorted.

Dark smiled. Only Krad could make that action seem elegant and oh-so-high-class. But then, that was his angel. His proud, beautiful, aristocratic Krad. "How am I supposed to kiss away your tears if you hide them?"

The blonde's jaw dropped slightly.

And, the dark angel grinned at a job well done.

Krad turned a few shades of red before closing his mouth. Only Dark could say the sappiest things and still be his usual arrogant self about it. What a moron.

The blonde created a new shade of red when Dark gave him another chaste kiss.

Really, he still couldn't decide which kisses were better, but Dark seemed willing enough to offer both.

And, he could definitely live with that.

~~X~~

Something pulled him from his slumber. An echo of a voice.

Krad stirred and sat up, searching for the one who called. Dark was still fast asleep next to him, so it couldn't have been the dark angel. He glanced around but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

A dream, perhaps?

But, it had seemed so real.

The blond laid back down and slid an arm around the taller angel's waist but he couldn't completely relax. Something felt off.

"…**a…"**

Krad tensed when he heard the faint cry. He shouldn't be hearing it. He and Dark were sealed.

"…**a…ma…"**

It was just his imagination. It had to be.

"…**a…ma…"**

He pressed his hands to his ears to block the voice. He didn't want to hear it! He wanted to stay here with Dark. They didn't need any intruders into their world.

"…**A…l…ma…Al…"**

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

"…**ma…Al…"**

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

"**Al…ma…"**

"_Shut up!"_

Dark jerked awake at Krad's desperate scream. Seeing his angel curled up and near tears, the purple haired angel's eyes darted around searching for the threat. Finding nothing but gray on all sides, Dark pulled the blond into his arms. "What is it, Krad?"

The light angel shook his head. "The voice."

Dark frowned. "Voice? What voice?"

"…**Alma…Alma…"**

Krad pushed out of Dark's hold. "_That_ voice!"

"Damn it, Krad, I don't hear anything."

"**Alma. Alma. Alma."**

"_Who the fuck is Alma_?"

"**Alma! Alma! ALMA!!"**

"Krad!" Dark lounged for the fading blond, but Krad vanished into thin air before he could grab on. The dark angel stared at the place where his angel had been a moment before. What the hell was going on?

~~X~~

Agony slammed into Krad's conscious. He writhed as wave after wave of pain, both mental and physical, washed over him. _//What is this?//_

Everything paused. "Who are you?"

A chill slid down the blonde's spine. No, it couldn't be. But, everything was beginning to make sense now.

"Who are you?"

That pain did not belong to him but to another, to the one whose body he now shared.

"Who the hell just talked to me?"

Oh gods, he was in the body of a new host. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Pulling himself together, Krad hid his confusion and cautiously answered his new Tamer. _//I am a part of you.//_

"Where are you?"

_//It would be easier for me to explain if you look into a mirror or any reflective surface.//_

A minute later, Krad found himself staring at a child covered in blood and holding a very odd weapon of some kind. A sword both beautiful and terrible.

"What…"

_//You are what is known as a wing master. My host. We share the same body now.//_

"But how?" The child stared suspiciously at the angelic blond reflected in the water.

Krad raised a brow. _//You are a Hikari, no?//_

A long silence settled over them. The boy tilted his head to the side. "Hikari? What light?"

The blond frowned. Something was seriously off about this. _//Your name. What is your name?//_

"Yuu."

_//Your full name, please, Yuu-sama.//_

The boy scowled. "Don't call me that. And that _is_ my whole name."

Krad studied the child with a critical eye. Was this boy a Hikari? Members of his host family usually had the trademark light blue hair and matching blue eyes, but this child had black hair and dark blue eyes. _//May I look through your memories?//_

His Tamer reluctantly consented, and the blond delved into the other's past.

The information flooded into him, and Krad flinched at the sheer amount of torture his host had gone through. Humans really were fearsome beings. Especially when their lives were at stake.

From what could gather from the limited amount of data, this did not seem to be his world. This boy hadn't picked up a paintbrush or done anything remotely artistic in his short life. And he didn't seem to be part of the Hikari family, if there was one in this world. The angel didn't know why he had been pulled out of the Kokuyoku and separated from Dark, but for now this boy needed someone, anyone to acknowledge him. Knowing that feeling a little too well, Krad couldn't turn away from this child. He knew what it was like to be alone.

Krad wrapped himself around the light of his Tamer's soul, offering warmth and acceptance to the traumatized boy. _//Shall I give you a name, then, little one? One that will not remind you of the boy called Alma?//_

Dark blue eyes widened. Though he would never admit it, Yuu was drawn to the angelic being. The blond was offering the very thing the doctors and scientists always denied him, what Alma tried to offer in his own clumsy way. "If you want."

_//Then how about…Kanda? It fits you.//_

"Kanda?" Yuu mulled over it and silently agreed with the blonde's choice. "You never answered my question from before though. Who are you?"

The angel felt the child unconsciously lean into his warmth. _//My name is Krad. Let us get along then, shall we, Kanda-sama?//_

~~X~~

Blue eyes surveyed the scene of the ruined facility, which appeared to have suffered from a mini apocalypse. Kanda then glanced at the Innocence weapon in his hand. He had done the right thing, hadn't he? Killing Alma had been the only choice, right?

Phantom arms curled around his shoulders and long transparent hair, the color of sunshine, slipped into his line of vision. _//Such thoughts are unproductive and will only cause you unnecessary pain, Kanda-sama. What's done is done. Whether your actions were right or wrong is now a moot point.//_ Krad pulled his Tamer closer and wrapped hazy white wings around them, cutting them off from the rest of the world for a short time. _//Do not linger in the past for it will hold you back from moving forward.//_

"Jeez, you talk like an old man. And why are you see-through?"

The blonde angel had no idea how to respond to that statement. _//Old man? I am translucent because this form is merely a projection. Though, I am having some difficulty with making this image any clearer. It might be due to the current disarray of my magic. Some time will fix that easily. Well then, shall we leave this desolate place? Ruinous scenery does not induce positive thoughts.//_

"…Stop using big words. And where am I supposed to go?"

_//Anywhere but here. And, you might want to go pick up that blind man you saved earlier. He's waking up.//_

Kanda tensed.

_//Do not worry so. You are the only one able to see and hear me.//_ Nonetheless, Krad disappeared from sight.

The boy sighed, wondering if he was just going crazy.

_// I spent a good few years suffering from madness. Believe me, Kanda-sama, you are certainly not going crazy.//_

Regardless of Krad's good intentions, the reassurance didn't make Kanda feel any better about his mental state.

~~X~~

~The beginning was a little clichéd, but I couldn't help it. Introspection is fun.

Krad's little breakdown in the middle of the chapter was written in the middle of the night while I was half asleep, and I was too lazy to change it after. And since all I did was go back to fix any grammar mistakes, Krad will just have to stay highly emotional in a grammatically correct way.

And, if I ever get around to writing the next chapter, it'll be in Dark's POV. So, we'll get to see his version of the past.

So, how did I do for my first X-over fic? Good? Lame? Boring?


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Tragedy Calls My Name

Author: phoenixtears07

Pairings: Dark/Krad, Yullen

Genre: Romance, Angst, Drama, Humor

Warnings: shounen ai aka guyxguy pairing (you have been warned), some swearing

Summary: After Dark sealed the both of them in the Kokuyoku, things were peaceful for a while until Krad hears a voice that does not belong in the Kokuyoku. It sets off a chain of events that throws them into new hosts and a war between demons and exorcists with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

**AN**: I used a mix of the anime and manga for the DN Angel part of the story. And, I sort of twisted Dark's personality. Just a little warning for those who like Dark's canon personality.

~~X~~

**Chapter 2**

Dark loved Krad.

It was as simple as that. He had loved the blonde angel ever since their separation from the Kokuyoku, from each other. Perhaps, he had loved his other half even before they had been cruelly torn apart. Krad was his everything, his reason for living, breathing, existing. His world revolved around Krad, and Dark would have done anything for his blonde angel.

But, as for their human counterparts, Dark hated them as much as he loved his other half. He hated them with a passion for keeping him separated from his everything.

He held a modicum of respect for the Hikari only because he had created the Kokuyoku, but that respect didn't make him like the human any more than necessary. With the Niwa, though, Dark _despised_ him. He hated being imprisoned in that human's mind. He hated being dependent upon the redhead.

His only consolation was the fact that Niwa and Hikari were in love with each other. And as such, they saw each other quite often. This meant more time closer to Krad.

Unfortunately though, the blonde had developed some weird idea of the four of them being a family. Dark hadn't understood the logic in that, but he pretended for the sake of his other half. He buried his true feelings for the humans in the back of his mind and acted as though he, too, loved the Niwa and Hikari.

And time passed.

Hikari became ill and Dark found new reasons to hate his creator. As the illness progressed, Krad began paying less attention to him, and jealousy wormed its way into Dark's heart. Everything was about "Father" now, and the dark angel didn't like it. Krad should only care about him. So what if their creator disappeared? It was a good thing, right? It would be one less obstacle in the way of them being together.

But, Krad didn't know of his true feelings. So, Dark buried his jealousy. He hid away his ugly thoughts and feelings to try and comfort his suffering angel.

As the Hikari died, Krad clung to him. It was the first time the blonde shed tears, and it pierced Dark straight through his chest. It hurt to see the other's pain, but the only thing Dark could do was hold him, rock him in their private world.

"It hurts, Dark. Why does my chest hurt?"

Black wings wrapped around the fragile blonde as Dark closed his eyes. "I don't know, Krad."

Then the light of the Hikari's soul vanished, stolen away by death, and Dark realized just how wrong he had been. Their Tamers were not the problem. Death was the greatest obstacle between him and Krad because it was taking his everything away.

As the blonde faded with an agonized scream, Dark could only tremble as his name echoed in the space now occupied by merely one angel. Dark broke the stifling silence as he screamed his own pain because he had never felt so alone before. He had always had Krad. He had always been able to at least sense his other half. Now, there was only an empty void where his everything should have been.

And Dark hated it with every fiber of his being.

~~X~~

Love was a very confusing and painful emotion.

Dark had decided that early on, after he was separated from his other half when the first Hikari died. His own Tamer couldn't handle the loss. And to be honest with himself, Dark hadn't been able to handle his own separation from Krad.

After his own brush with death when the Niwa committed suicide, Dark woke in a new Tamer at the first stirring of the human's love.

The dark angel could faintly sense his other half. That meant Krad probably had a new Tamer as well. Hope sparked in his chest at the promise of meeting his other half again. Dark was starving for any contact with his light angel.

When his host snuck into the Hikari mansion to steal a painting, Dark felt Krad's presence strengthen with every step. Excited, the purple haired angel tried to take over, uncaring of the place and time. This distracted his host long enough for a Hikari to slip a dagger into their back. And, they collapsed as their life's blood pooled around them.

Dark looked up at the attacker and noted the light blue hair and eyes signifying a Hikari. But, he could also see the frightened gold flashing in those merciless blue eyes. Unable to physically speak, Dark mentally screamed his counterpart's name over and over again.

The Hikari uncaringly stepped over his host's body and walked away, leaving Dark to stare desperately after him. But, he never looked back. Krad never looked back.

Darkness crept over his vision as death claimed his host. ((Krad…))

~~X~~

From that generation on, Dark and Krad were pitted against each other. Fighting for a cause Dark could not name.

He didn't know the reason for the hatred and creeping madness that gleamed in icy golden eyes. Had he done something wrong to his counterpart? Couldn't he just apologize for whatever it was so they could go back to the way things were?

But with each generation, Dark watched his other half drift further and further away. Early deaths marked the passage of time. And, the darker angel began to resent.

Dark drowned himself in his own lies the same way Krad lost himself in his madness. He slowly convinced himself that he cared about his human hosts, and he turned his resentment into anger.

But, the pain remained. Every time he had to face Krad, Dark felt his chest tighten. He still loved the icy blonde, but the distance between them widened with every meeting and consequent fight.

And so, Dark continued to lie to himself.

~~X~~

Four hundred bloody years passed before Dark couldn't take it anymore. He stopped holding back his attacks. He did whatever he could to make Krad bleed and hopefully die. It was so easy to allow the burning anger to strengthen his attacks.

But then, he inadvertently witnessed a moment of Krad's periodic sanity when Hiwatori Satoshi, the last Hikari, slept over at the Niwa home.

Dark had woken the instant he sensed Krad take over his host's sleeping body. Minutes passed to an hour but the blonde did nothing more than stare out the window. Calm golden eyes glanced at Daisuke and Dark tensed, half-expecting an attack.

"I don't want to have too deep a connection with you…Niwa…"

The dark angel's eyes widened in surprise at the blonde's sincere words.

"I…I actually…really envy you…"

The soft confession had been made with an almost wistful tone. Without elaborating, Krad stood and gently picked up the slumbering redhead, placing the teen onto the bed. With a last lingering look, Krad turned and left via the window. The only proof that he had been there was a single white feather lying innocently on the ground.

Once he was sure that the blonde was gone, Dark carefully took over Daisuke's body without waking him. He stooped down to pick up the snowy feather. All his anger and growing resentment melted away into confusion.

Crawling back into bed, Dark cradled the feather to his chest as he reminisced about better days. Ignorance had been so incredibly blissful then. Purple hair gave way to short spiky red locks as Dark retreated back into Daisuke's mind, taking the white feather with him. Since it was part of a magical being, he could pull it with him into the mindscape.

Nothing remained to show that Krad had been there at all.

~~X~~

"_We don't have a full form. No matter what we wish for, no matter what we pray for, IT WILL NEVER COME TRUE!"_

The words Krad spoke to him during the Second Hand of Time incident echoed in his head as he finally found himself face to face with Argentine, this foolish _thing_ that dared to steal one of his toys and make a fool out of him. Dark stared at the blonde being responsible for all the drama.

Black rage seethed through his entire being. He could hear his Tamer screaming his name, but Dark ignored the persistent voice. His hand whipped out and grabbed Argentine's face. He could feel his nails lengthening into razor sharp claws, and Dark was sure his pupils had contracted into cat-like slits. Physical signs of his true nature usually hidden behind his false mask.

He cruelly smashed the blonde's head into the stone surface, taking pleasure in causing the other pain. This brat, Argentine, had no right to meddle in his affairs, so he was going to teach this piece of worthless shit a lesson.

(Hold on, Dark!)

Dark snarled at the interruption. He wanted to hurt this bastard. Rip. Tear. Break. Maim. Kill. He _needed_ it, the thrill of ripping away a life. It was an addiction he could never get enough of, so who did this human think he was to stop Dark from indulging in this desire? ((Shut up, Daisuke!))

The memory of Krad's voice continued to resound in his mind.

"_In the deepest place of your heart, you must have hated the humans who summoned us to this world, where we do not belong…"_

Dark's lips curled, revealing fangs, at the truth of those words from his angel. But before he could harm Argentine any further, the tower began falling apart, forcing him to let go of the blond.

(Harada-san is trapped in that tower!)

The dark angel looked up just as the girl fell. He knew he would never be able to reach her in time. Then, a blur of white and gold appeared seemingly out of nowhere, catching Risa midair.

Shocked, Dark immediately identified the being. He would have recognized the long golden hair and snow-white wings anywhere. "Krad?"

Why? Why was his angel going out of his way to catch some girl? Dark clutched his chest as a stab of pain pierced his heart. He couldn't have stopped the sense of betrayal from seeping into his world even if he tried.

Did Krad hold some form of affection for Risa?

Raw possessiveness tinted his vision red as he stared at Risa standing far too close to Krad for Dark's peace of mind. Krad belonged to _him_! No one else had the right to even touch _his_ angel! Dark clamped down on his emotions before his Tamer could sense them. With one last glare at the two figures, he abruptly retreated back into Daisuke's mind.

The redhead fell to his hands and knees from the sudden transformation. "…Dark…?"

The dark angel ignored his Tamer while silently fuming at his blonde's possible betrayal.

~~X~~

Questions ran laps around Dark's mind as he tried to piece together the complicated puzzle that was his other half.

He made the decision that would end the long war between Niwa and Hikari. And as the gray void closed around the two angels, Dark turned his back to his counterpart. He had no idea what to say, how to reconnect with the only one he could ever love.

Rika had been a passing fancy, a splash of kindness in a hateful world, and Dark hadn't been able to walk away. But even as he whispered to himself that he loved the woman, he knew the desperate litany was nothing more than another lie, another excuse to distance himself from his blond angel. And in the end, Dark could only acknowledge that no human could ever replace Krad in his heart.

And now with the gray void of the Kokuyoku surrounding them, Dark could no longer lie to himself. The stark truth of his ugly emotions stared straight back at him, and he could no longer escape. There was no Niwa to pretend to like. There was no Hikari to steal from. No human woman to distract him. Only Krad. Just like it had been before their fateful separation four hundred years ago.

No…it wasn't the same. He and Krad no longer had the closeness from long ago. There was nothing but tension between them now. Four hundred years worth of lies and deception separated them, and Dark didn't know how to fix it or even where to begin.

The thick silence grated against Dark's nerves. It wasn't in his nature to sit still and think circular thoughts. He was active where Krad was passive. And so, Dark blurted out the first thing that came to mind if only to break the stillness of the void.

"What happened?"

Dark breathed a silent sigh of relief, glad that he hadn't asked something stupid.

"What?"

His angel's voice sounded a little hoarse. That couldn't be good.

The dark angel pushed aside that thought and asked the question that burned in his mind since his second Tamer's untimely death. "Did I do something wrong?"

"What are you talking about?"

Obviously, he and Krad were not on the same page. Maybe he should have thought this out a little more.

Dark sighed and turned around to face the blonde. The snow-white wings were defensively wrapped around the lithe figure. The dark angel's gaze traced the streamlined feathers and moved to the long golden hair tightly tied back. The silver cross inlaid with intricate gold vine-like designs adorned the end. Their "father" had crafted the cross for Krad as a present. He remembered the blonde's awe and excitement over his first and last material gift. Dark recalled getting a gift from his creator as well, but he couldn't remember what happened to it. He had probably tossed it somewhere the first chance he got.

Dark pulled his mind back on track.

He really hated this. Dark wanted to wrap himself around his angel again but he also wanted answers. He wanted, no needed to know. "What did I do to make you hate me? Why did we spend four hundred years fighting, Krad? I want to know why I had no choice but to seal us in this place."

His voice had been strained and a little too harsh, and he felt a little guilty when he saw Krad flinch. But, the answers were so close.

When Krad refused to answer, Dark lost patience. He tackled the blond and pinned his angel down. _"Answer me!"_

He easily kept the blond down despite the desperate struggling. Dark tried to calm Krad down by calling his name, but his counterpart didn't seem to hear him. He didn't know how it happened; but the next thing he knew, Krad's face was turned away with a reddening mark forming in the shape of his hand. Dark stared wide-eyed at the discoloration, shaken at his own action. It scared him that he could do that without thinking. "I-I'm sorry, Krad. I didn't…"

His angel wouldn't even look at him. Dark inwardly panicked. What if this pushed Krad even further away?

"I don't know."

Dark slowly blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"I cannot tell you a reason for the last four hundred years because there isn't one."

…There wasn't a reason?

~~X~~

Dark officially detested the Hikari family. Family member of his creator or not, that brat had no right to lie to Krad that way. That Hikari fool had no right to take away the only one he had ever held dear.

Damn them. Damn them all. It was their fault. Four hundred years of bloodshed lay on the Hikari family's shoulders, not Krad's. His angel hadn't known any better at that time.

It was also his fault for not connecting the puzzle earlier. Who had constant contact with Krad? Who _else_ could turn his angel against him? The answer had been right in front of his face the entire time, and Dark mentally beat his head against a brick wall for being so stupid, for believing that Krad would abandon him for no reason. It was his fault for letting the lies and misunderstandings degenerate to the point where Krad lost his sanity.

He was dark where Krad was light. His angel wasn't meant to harbor negative emotions, not to that extent.

Even in the beginning, Krad loved their creator and even the Niwa while Dark hated both humans. Dark symbolized the shadows within the human heart, and Krad represented the radiance. Dark was made for destruction where Krad wielded the healing arts. That was the way of things. That was their balance.

But, when that blasted nephew of his creator manipulated Krad, the balance was disrupted and Krad paid the price with his sanity. His angel's magic became erratic and consequently destructive, harming himself, his Tamer, and everyone around him.

And as a result, Dark's magic had been affected as well. He had been unable to call upon his wings and more destructive abilities, which forced him to resort to using a familiar and hand-to-hand combat.

This explained so much.

He and Krad were reflections of each other. What happened to one would affect the other, just to a lesser degree.

It was how Dark could feel love for Krad. He would never be able to experience the emotion as fully as Krad. What he felt was merely a shadow of what Krad felt for him, but it was enough. It was more than enough.

Dark glanced at the dejected ball of white feathers sitting in front of him. Krad had wrapped himself in his wings again. Was his angel expecting rejection? He crawled forward and gently reached past the shield of feathers to hug the blond. He felt his angel lean into his touch and tightened his hold. "I forgive you."

His whispered profession made the blond tremble. He held his angel as Krad finally released his pent up emotions. It was centuries overdue.

He didn't know when his own tears stated falling but he couldn't care less. He finally had his angel back in his arms. And for the first time in four hundred years, Dark felt at peace again.

~~X~~

Dark should have known that something was bound to happen to disrupt their peace. When had life ever been fair to them? Sealed into the Kokuyoku or not, fate would eventually find a way to torment them.

And it happened when Krad woke him, screaming about some voice. Dark strained his ears but the only voice he heard was Krad's.

"_Who the fuck is Alma_?"

Alma? Dark had no idea who that was. His eyes widened when his angel began to fade, eerily reminiscent to the time when the first Hikari died. A cold fist squeezed his chest. No. This couldn't be happening. They were supposed to be sealed forever!

Dark desperately lunged for the blond, but grasped only thin air when Krad completely vanished. What the hell was going on?

"KRAD!"

His voice echoed, reflecting the sound back at him over and over again.

"NO! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"

Dark sent out energy blast after energy blast, hoping something would give. Surely he could break out of this thrice-damned void.

When he ran low on magic, he slammed his fists into what served as the ground until his knuckles were bloody and bruised. And still he raged.

Why? Just when they had found some happiness in this fucked up place…

"DAMN IT! LET ME OUT!"

He couldn't sense Krad. Why couldn't he sense his angel? It was just like when Death came calling for the first time.

"KRAD!"

Dark didn't know how long he tried to break out. He went through every spell he knew. He tried combining spells. He tried using raw magic. Anything and everything he had at his limited disposal. And nothing worked. He was still trapped while his angel was who-knows-where. What if Krad was in trouble? What if his angel was hurt and waiting for him?

He restlessly paced, seething with nothing but his erratic thoughts for company.

"…**Mana…"**

Dark froze in his tracks. Mana? What or who the hell was that?

"…**Mana…"**

He glanced around, searching for the source of the voice. Could this be what Krad heard?

"…**Please…wake up…Mana…"**

Dark looked down at his hands, which were becoming transparent. "Oh, hell…"

"**MANA!"**

His world turned black.

~~X~~

Mental anguish slammed into him. Dark shuddered slightly at the onslaught then let it wash over him and away. It wasn't his so he had no interest in it.

A dim spark flickered in his mind's eye. Faint. Familiar. Excitement churned in Dark's stomach. It was Krad. He could sense his angel again! Though, Krad seemed to be far away if the dimness of his light was any indication.

That was odd. The Hikari and Niwa families may have hated each other, but one rarely if ever strayed far from the other. Artist and thief. Without the Hikari, the Niwa could not steal. Without the Niwa, the Hikari would have no one who could truly love their art. They, like he and Krad, balanced each other out.

A closer, silver light intruded and pulled his attention away. Tainted with a lifetime's worth of sorrow and pain, this light's tragedy called to Dark. His lips curled slightly in distaste. It was a mortal's soul. The negative emotions called to him, but he was reluctant to get any closer.

So, he had new Tamer.

The sealing should have prevented this from happening. But, something was off. He hadn't been woken by his new tamer's feelings of love, far from it. This…was different.

Intrigued despite himself, Dark drew closer to the light to look through the other's eyes. The boy, his host, was kneeling by a toppled carriage. Dark could make out the unnaturally still body trapped beneath the pile of wood, metal and glass. A warm, sticky substance seeped through the boy's pants. Dark admired the crimson fluid. His true self, hidden beneath layers of masks and lies, itched to leaned down closer to the substance. It wanted a taste of that blood, made rich by creeping death and agonizing wounds.

Dark shook off his morbid desires and caught a glimpse of his host from the reflection off a shard of glass. He stared in growing horror.

This wasn't right. This boy couldn't possibly be a Niwa. The brown hair and brown eyes held none of the Niwa's distinctive fiery presence. Hell, the boy wasn't even Asian, much less Japanese.

And now that he thought about it, carriages shouldn't even be in use anymore.

((What the hell?))

The boy jumped in surprise. "Mana?"

Dark glanced at the reflection again just to make sure, but the brown hair and eyes remained the same. ((This is seriously fucked up…))

His host warily glanced around. "W-Who's there?"

The dark angel sighed, already tired of having to deal with a brat. He just wanted to go get his angel and find a secluded place. But, that obviously wasn't going to happen any time soon. ((I'm a voice in your head, kid, so stop talking out loud before someone hears you talking to yourself and throws you into some institute. I can hear your thoughts.))

'_Oh…who are you?'_

((Name's Dark, kid. You?))

'_Allen Walker. Is…is Mana alright? Why isn't he moving?'_

Dark didn't have to check for a pulse to know that the man was dead, but the boy's timid thoughts made him feel a little sorry for the kid. So, Dark gentled his voice. ((He's not going to wake up, kid. Your Mana's dead.))

The boy sniffled and Dark faintly felt the warm tears track down his host's cheeks. The angel sighed. Kids were definitely not his forte.

~~X~~

Dark didn't particularly like graveyards. They were boring. The dead couldn't provide the entertainment, the excitement he needed to thrive. And besides, Krad wasn't here. That automatically made visiting the graveyard a tedious chore. Unfortunately, his host wanted to be close to the only person who had been kind to him.

Jeez, this kid was like a kicked puppy. Pet him a few times and he'll follow you to the ends of the earth.

Dark tamped down his snide thoughts. He needed Allen to trust him, and uncharitable thoughts tended to achieve the opposite effect. So, Dark was once more reduced to reluctantly befriending a human he would rather do without.

Trying to change his train of thought, he looked up at the moon. The full orb glowed an ominous red, the foretelling of a destiny paved with suffering. Dark snorted at the symbolism. The kid already had plenty of problems. Not to mention the silent presence of another being in the boy's mind.

Dark had tried to prod the other presence into doing something, but he merely got the impression of a shadow grinning at him. After a while with nothing to show for his effort, Dark left it alone. If it didn't want to do anything, then that was fine with him. He would just have to keep a close eye on it.

An abrupt shift in the magical field alerted Dark to an intruder. The magic radiating from the intruder felt odd to him. He had never encountered such magic before, so he decided to keep still and observe. He wouldn't interfere unless the boy was in imminent danger.

"Mana Walker…Shall I resurrect him for you?"

The malicious voice had Dark's hackles rising. Resurrecting the dead? Was that even possible? He pulled back, drifting deeper into Allen's mind. Dark didn't want the sorcerer accidentally sensing him.

So, he watched. Dark watched as his weak-willed Tamer called his father back from the dead. He felt the thick, disgusting magic emanating from the metal skeleton. He experienced his host's blinding pain as the resurrected soul cursed his son. Dark bit back a snarl when a piece of that man's soul and tainted magic entered Allen's left eye. And just before he had enough and interfered, something very interesting happened.

Allen's left arm surged with another kind of magic that Dark was unfamiliar with. It felt lighter, more forgiving than the suffocating feel of the dark magic from the skeleton and the sorcerer. The new magic transform the boy's arm into a claw that cleanly sliced through the black skeleton.

Dark didn't relax until the sorcerer's presence vanished. Satisfied that his host was alone once more, he shifted forward to carefully examine both the cursed eye and the blessed arm. He noted that the boy's hair had turned white, and the eyes had lightened to gray.

Well, well. This host may prove to be more entertaining than he first thought.

That was until Dark realized that the blessed arm was sentient in its own right. He swore.

((Damn it, kid, it's getting really crowded in here! You better not pick up any other stray things.))

Allen slowly blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

~~X~~

Three years passed.

Dark had decided early on that life with Cross Marian was awesome. Every night brought danger and excitement in the form of swindling and debt collectors. He was having the time of his life.

Allen, on the other hand, was convinced he had ended up in Hell and Cross Marian was the devil in the disguise of a drunken womanizer. Night after night of gambling and running wore him out, but that demon known as his Master refused to stop racking up the bills. And the hammer. Bloody hell, he had _nightmares_ about that hammer.

Dark had warmed up to Allen over the years, though he still wasn't happy about having a Tamer again. He was with Allen through everything. The manual labor. The endless debts. The nightly gambling. He taught his host how to pickpocket when gambling was out of the question. Dark watched as Allen found his first friend in the boy, Nalei, while they were in India. He was a comforting presence when Nalei became an akuma. He encouraged the boy when Allen consciously killed his first demon.

And through it all, Dark inwardly reveled in the negative emotions Allen always seemed mired in. He drank in the boy's sorrow and pain like they were drugs. Wanting more. Craving more. Dark could only lie to himself for so long. He existed because of these darker emotions, and he couldn't continue exiting without them. But, Allen knew nothing about this, and Dark wanted to keep it that way.

Likewise, he would never let Krad see this side of him. His angel didn't need to know how bloodthirsty and twisted Dark could be. Krad should only see his more caring side. The part of him that would do anything for the blond.

Dark was pulled out of his musings when Allen's terror flooded him. He looked through gray eyes to see Cross advancing with _the_ hammer in hand. It always amused him to see Allen become completely terrified of a simple tool, but he could understand the boy's anxiety. That hammer played a part in many a killing of Allen's brain cells.

"I hate that place."

Then the hammer swung down. Dark winced as it made contact and Allen fell unconscious. ((Whoa…you still alive, Al?))

Dark was met with silence. Well, he hadn't been expecting an answer anyway.

"I know you can hear me."

The dark angel turned his attention back to the redhead. Who was he talking to?

"Why don't you come out so we can talk face to face…Dark, was it?"

His eyes widened in shock. How did Cross know about him? He doubted Allen would confide in the man. He hesitated for a moment before shaking off his stupor and took control of the body, the familiar sensation of the transformation steadying his nerves. Once the change was complete, Dark settled into a comfortable position and eyed the General sitting across from him with a wineglass in hand. "How do you know about me?"

Cross smirked slyly. "A little bird told me."

Dark narrowed his eyes at the man. Despite what anyone thought, he really didn't like these manipulative games when they struck too close to home. "Let's not play games, sorcerer. What kind of bird are we talking about here?"

"A very pretty one with white feathers and gold eyes."

He hissed a breath at the description. "And did you get a name?"

"He called himself Krad."

Dark leapt to his feet and lunged at the redhead. Grabbing the collar of Cross's coat with clawed hands, he pulled the General up. Cat-like violet eyes drilled into the other's burgundy eye. "_Where is he?_"

Cross held up his hands, inwardly mourning the now broken glass of red wine on the ground. "There's no need to get violent. I was planning on telling you from the beginning."

The dark angel sneered and let go. Backing away, Dark painstakingly calmed himself. Killing Cross would hinder more than help. Once he was back to his usual appearance, he casually leaned against the far wall. Distance was good, otherwise, he might give in to the urge to hurt the redhead until he found out Krad's location. Speaking evenly with a calm he did not feel, Dark clenched and unclenched his fists to distract him from his more destructive desires. "So? Where is Krad?"

"His host is an exorcist for the Black Order. Coincidentally, my idiot apprentice will be on his way there once he wakes up from his nap."

Dark raised a brow at that. Nap, indeed. "How long have you known about me?"

Cross nonchalantly shrugged. "I wasn't certain until a few months after I picked the two of you up."

"That long?" Dark glared menacingly at the redhead through a curtain of violet bangs. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I saw no reason to." Cross motioned to his golem, and Timcampy flew over to the fuming angel. "Take Tim with you. He knows the way to Headquarters."

Dark silently watched the General walk away.

"Oh, and send Krad my regards, will you?" With that, the redhead closed the door.

Dark forced down the automatic jealousy that sprung up from Cross's parting statement. He didn't want to think about any possible relationship between _his_ angel and that redhead.

He, instead, mused over the new information. Finally after three years, he would be reunited with his angel. He wondered how Krad was faring. A gentle nudge from Timcampy claimed his attention, and Dark held out a hand for the golem to land. His eyes traced the golden wings and the cross shaped design on the golem's "face" to the tufted tail. "You know, you kind of remind me of Krad. Though, he probably wouldn't be happy about being compared to a golem."

He stared at Timcampy for a few more minutes in deep thought. Something had been set into motion. He felt as though things were going to be hectic from here on in. Whether he wanted to get involved in anything or not, Dark knew he was going to have a role to play in this war. Even if he couldn't care less about the continuation of the human race, he didn't really have much of a choice.

So if he had to get involved, he could at least be prepared. That meant he needed wings. Dark knew he could call upon his own wings now, but he didn't want to hear Allen complain about the unavoidable pain.

There was only one other option.

"Wiz!"

Dark felt bad about pulling Wiz from retirement, but he did miss the strawberry-loving familiar.

"Kyuu!"

The rabbit-like creature appeared out of nowhere and immediately jumped into Dark's arms to cuddle. He had missed his master.

"Hey, how are you, Wiz? You look the same."

"Kyuu~"

Dark placed the rabbit onto his head, and Wiz happily burrowed into the nest of purple hair. Timcampy flew over to investigate the new arrival.

Dark sat down to watch the two interact. After an hour, he finally felt Allen wake up. "Awake now?"

(Huh? Dark? What happened?)

"Your Master hit you with that hammer of his and left."

Allen jerked completely awake as the memories returned. He shuddered. (I hate that hammer.)

"I'm sure you do, Al." Dark petted Wiz one more time before handing control back to Allen.

The white-haired teen stretched then winced when his head throbbed. "Oww…" He jumped when a white rabbit-like animal hopped into his lap. "Uh…"

((He's Wiz, my familiar. I figured since you have Timcampy now, I should have a pet too!))

Allen hesitantly patted Wiz's head. "…I see…"

"Kyuu~"

((Oh, and Wiz likes strawberries.))

"Right…" Allen picked up the familiar and looked around the empty room. He spotted the broken glass and wine staining the floor but wisely decided not to ask. "The Black Order. You know the way, don't you, Tim?"

The golem nodded.

Dark sat back, feeling almost content. Soon…

~~X~~

**AN**: And that's my twist on Dark and Krad. I didn't explain how Dark and Krad work very well in the story, so here's the more in-depth explanation.

Basically, they are like Yin and Yang. Dark is created from the "darkness" (sorry for the pun) of the human heart. In other words the negative emotions like anxiety, anger, depression, hatred, etc. And Krad is the opposite, representing the positive emotions.

But like the yin-yang symbol, Dark has some of Krad's characteristics and vice versa. That's why Dark can love Krad. But, since his ability to feel positive emotions is severely limited, Dark feels more obsessive possessive of Krad and only Krad. Still, he hides his real self because he doesn't want to "taint" Krad with his more morbid view of things.

And looking at this from Krad's side, Krad is more of a natural healer than fighter, though, his connection to Dark does allow him to use harmful magic.

So, why did Krad go completely psycho? Well, when the second Hikari host screwed up Krad's view of the world, he also screwed up the balance between Dark and Krad. Since Krad's not supposed to channel that much hatred, he began losing his mind. And voila! The creation of the Homicidal Blond. (Yes, it is capitalized)

The unbalance also affected their magic. Krad's became unstable, hurting him and his hosts. It affected Dark by taking away his ability to call out his real wings and limiting his more destructive powers.

When Dark sealed them back into the Kokuyoku, the balance was restored and everything worked out from there.

And, that is my long explanation of whatever the hell is going on.

Next chapter, Dark and Krad are reunited while Allen and Kanda meet for the first time. There will also be more interaction between Dark and Allen since there wasn't much this chapter.


End file.
